February 15, 2012

In a game that included a combined 40 fouls and 50 turnovers, the Newton-Conover girls basketball team survived an early scare from South Iredell to advance to Friday's CVAC 2A tournament final with a 65-37 victory.

The Lady Red Devils (23-3) will meet the winner of No. 2 Bandys and No. 3 East Burke in the championship game.

"It was ugly. That's all I can say," said N-C coach Ike Williams. "We kind of knew Bandys would be here scouting. We wanted to be conservative with the game plan and what we ran. Obviously, it ended up being an ugly game."

February 15, 2012

CORAL GABLES, Fla. â€” Harrison Barnes scored 23 points and No. 8 North Carolina used smothering defense to rally from an eight-point deficit in the second half and beat Miami 73-64 Wednesday night.

The Tar Heels, who came in leading the nation with 83.5 points per game, shot only 38 percent and went 5 for 18 from 3-point range. But they forced turnovers on four consecutive possessions in the second half to get back in the game, and held Miami without a point for nearly five minutes down the stretch.

February 15, 2012

"Out of 31 days in January, we played 25 days straight, and we had no practices in our (Newton Recreation Center) facility," said Newton Assistant Recreation Director Carol Stiles. "There are 28 days in February, and we'll play 28. It is seven-days-a-week, and a lot of the coaches don't like it because they don't get to practice. Sometimes there are too many people in there, but we don't have any other space."

February 15, 2012

A handful of students of various ages and colorful belts dress, line up and start stretching.

For the most part, itâ€™s a normal Tuesday night for the veteran Newton group. However, the surroundings are different.

Newton Martial Arts (NMA) kicked its way into a new facility in 2012, giving the groupâ€™s instructors, students and parents more space and better amenities to practice their custom Teashikido style of Karate.